Brumbies vs Crusaders 6th April - Christchurch Stadium
- Thread starter Tomikin
- Start date
Slim 293
Stirling Mortlock (74)
waiopehu oldboy
George Smith (75)
Game. Over.
waiopehu oldboy
George Smith (75)
Reece had to snare one eventually..........
Up the Guts
Steve Williams (59)
Crotty lucky not to be off for that knockdown. Comms ofc talk him up.
Up the Guts
Steve Williams (59)
Well, Darcy Swain was very impressive. Brumbies should take heart from some good looking bits of play, especially in the first half. Never going to win with two YCs though.
Brumby Jack
Steve Williams (59)
Valiant effort but hard to win with 14 players and a fired up Crusaders team.
Brumby Runner
Jason Little (69)
A few of the Brumbies players confirmed today that they are NRC quality only. Tom Cusack is well out of his depth and is never a 7. McCaffrey tries hard and never gives up, but his efforts against the best are just not up to it. The less said about JJH the better.
On the positive side, Darcy Swain showed all the promise of being an exceptional player as he gets a bit older and more experienced. I still cannot fathom why Pete Samu doesn't play longer minutes. One of the very best in the first half and replaced early in the second.
Actually, the rot started to set in when Jaco penalised the Brumbies' scrum near their own tryline when all three of the Crusaders' front row were face down on the ground. I think the score at the time was 7 - 7. Brumbies were never going to win, but they did put up a good fight to that point. Pity about the scraps of refereeing expertise available in Super Rugby this year.
On the positive side, Darcy Swain showed all the promise of being an exceptional player as he gets a bit older and more experienced. I still cannot fathom why Pete Samu doesn't play longer minutes. One of the very best in the first half and replaced early in the second.
Actually, the rot started to set in when Jaco penalised the Brumbies' scrum near their own tryline when all three of the Crusaders' front row were face down on the ground. I think the score at the time was 7 - 7. Brumbies were never going to win, but they did put up a good fight to that point. Pity about the scraps of refereeing expertise available in Super Rugby this year.
Slim 293
Stirling Mortlock (74)
You really do have an irrational hatred of that kid...........
Despite that intercept towards the end, he would offer more to the backline than our current 12, despite his size.
Not that I'm calling for him to fill that position, but he would be an improvement on Simone who looks completely lost out there.
Also, you must be the only one who didn't think McCaffrey had a reasonable game?
Brumby Jack
Steve Williams (59)
Unfortunately, I reckon JJH is a Robbie Coleman ver 2.0.
No doubt he is excellent at club and NRC level but not sure what to do with him at Super level.
No doubt he is excellent at club and NRC level but not sure what to do with him at Super level.
Slim 293
Stirling Mortlock (74)
It's a pickle.............
He has the skillset but lacks the size.
Simone has the size, and yet can't break the line but also lacks the skillset for the position.
Wright seems to have the right qualities but lacks the experience.
Tomikin
David Codey (61)
Robbie scored a heap of tries in super rugby..given him some credit.
waiopehu oldboy
George Smith (75)
Highlights:
LearningCurve
Bill Watson (15)
Where is Coleman playing these days?
Brumby Runner
Jason Little (69)
Slim, I won't argue that something needs to be done about the 12 spot. Simone has some skills including a very good passing game and his line kicking is better than we've had for some time (Nic White perhaps). But JJH is not the answer. IMO he is simply not a Super Rugby standard player, although with game time at 10 his stature (or lack of it) may not be so crucial. As BJ says below,he is like a Robbie Coleman v2. Both are loved by their respective local team fans because they do have skills. They are/were just too small to make an impact at Super level.
I think it is time for Hawera to return to the 10 spot with Christian moving to 12.
But there are other problem areas as well. The backrow without Poey and Valetini is very ordinary. McCaffrey is good at this level and tries all night. But I don't think he is Wallaby material. Tom Cusack is a little out of his depth at 7. Pete Samu is the one ball runner who makes consistent gains and can steal the occasional ball at ruck time, but is used sparingly by the coaching staff. Why?
mst
Peter Johnson (47)
Less so but a contributing factor is 9, but definitely our current 10, 12, 13 combination. It appears that McKellar is willing to change every other position on the field but this combination he is obsessed with even though its yielding little.
McKellar has rotated / changed / tried other options on the wings and its yielded performances. He changed up the locks even giving Swain a run and its worked (except from Carter who should be given an early release) and the same with front three. 6,7 and 8 are Ok but need some tinkering as I am not convinced that we have all we need even with Pocock; and let's face it, Pocock will be cameo's for the rest of 2019 then will go. I still dont mind Evener @6 as an option and Valetini @8.
Lilo is past it; too inconsistent and hasn't be able to deliver whats needed in years regardless of combinations. In defence he can be really poor. TK is TK and need to go elsewhere and find something new (same old bad habits have surfaced although when seguling on the wing, he looked good playing a winger type role). t tyeh end of the day if we wnat a TK V2.0, we may as well get Wright on @13. Like TK, he can run, and tackle and that's about is atm. Powell needs to speed up as he is now slow and really don't present as a threat. Simone may be better at 13, but in reality he offers nothing more than potential on the field; and potential is not a skillset that helps win games.
On Simone, I find it absolutely appalling that even on TV, you can see as soon as he kicks for touch his kicking technique is floored and why his distance is so poor. @Auskick, the kids as taught not to watch the ball off your foot, head down over the ball. (similar to kick off a tee). Simone looks up to where he is kicking to, then looks down mid action. So his eyes are only looking at, the over the ball as he about to kick. Clear coaching deficiency.
Brumbies are also falling in the Mack Mason trap. We have not seen anything apart from Lilo get time @10. I think this also will lead to an issue next year as I cant see Hawera feeling very loved atm and wanting to stay. That leaves us in the same predicament of continuing with this mediocrity that we know is not producing results or starting all over again with something new. What the new is who knows?
Defence and conditioning seem to have been an afterthought for McKellar so its not surprising we are having issue in those departments.